Sliding step assembly for a motor vehicle or for a rail vehicle

ABSTRACT

Disclosed embodiment provide a sliding step assembly for a vehicle or a rail vehicle, comprising at least one footboard, which is guided on a guiding device for movement along a travel path between a retracted position and an extended position by driving by a drive. The drive contains at least one electrical linear motor operating without contact, wherein the driving force of the electrical linear motor is transferred to the footboard without mechanical connection.

CROSS REFERENCE AND PRIORITY CLAIM

This patent application is a U.S. National Phase of International PatentApplication No. PCT/EP2017/001277, filed Nov. 3, 2017, which claimspriority to Germen Patent Application No. 10 2016 015 128.5, filed Dec.17, 2016, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by referencein their entirety.

FIELD

Disclosed embodiments relate to a sliding step assembly for a motorvehicle or for a rail vehicle, having at least one step board which,driven by a drive, is guided on a guide device so as to be movable alonga movement travel between a retracted position and a deployed position.Disclosed embodiments also relate to a vehicle, in particular a railvehicle having at least one sliding step assembly.

BACKGROUND

A sliding step assembly of the type is known for example from DE 10 2014203 049 A1. For example, such sliding step assemblies are used invehicles for passenger conveyance in order to facilitate embarking anddisembarking and in order to avoid a risk to persons. For example, inthe case of a rail vehicle, the step board of the sliding step assemblyserves for bridging the gap between the rail vehicle and a railwayplatform when the rail vehicle stops at a station. This preventspassengers from falling into the respective gap. Also, in the case ofbuses, the step board may serve for covering the gap between the vehicleand a curb edge. The step board may also serve for bridging a heightdifference between a platform of the vehicle and the railway platform orsidewalk in order to facilitate embarking and disembarking withwheelchairs and perambulators. Not least, a sliding step assembly of thetype may also be used in the case of vehicles for conveying sick ordisabled persons, for example in order, by the deployed step board, toform a path for a mobile stretcher or a wheelchair between a vehicleplatform and a road or a sidewalk.

Here, the step board may be moved back and forth between a retractedposition (rest position) and a deployed position (working position) by adrive, and, for this purpose, is guided for example on two rails, whichare arranged parallel to one another, of the guide device. The guidanceof the step board is normally realized by rollers.

As a drive for the step board, use has hitherto been made exclusively ofdrives involving contact, such as for example belt drives, spindledrives or pneumatic cylinders. Dirt, icing, deformation of the vehiclestructure in the region of the sliding step assembly or temperatureinfluences can however result in such a drive becoming blocked, suchthat the sliding step assembly is rendered non-functional. If thestructural space taken up by the sliding step assembly is alsodetermined by the drive. Furthermore, so-called vandalism can result indestruction of or initial damage to the drive train.

SUMMARY

Disclosed embodiments provide a sliding step assembly for a motorvehicle or for a rail vehicle of the type mentioned in the introductionsuch that the above-described problems are avoided.

Disclosed embodiments, likewise, provide a vehicle, in particular a railvehicle, having a sliding step assembly of the type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Disclosed embodiments will be described in more detail below on thebasis of an exemplary embodiment with reference to the appended drawing,in which:

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a sliding step assembly of a rail vehicleaccording to a disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the sliding step assembly from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a diagrammatic illustration of a linear motor such as maybe used in the sliding step assembly of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed embodiments provide a sliding step assembly for a motorvehicle or for a rail vehicle, having at least one step board which,driven by a drive, is guided on a guide device so as to be movable alonga movement travel between a retracted position and a deployed position.Here, the movement travel expressly includes the retracted position andthe deployed position.

Here, the step board is moved by the drive back and forth between theretracted position (rest position) and the deployed position (workingposition), though may also be stopped and held at any desired positionsituated between the retracted position (rest position) and the fullydeployed position (working position).

Disclosed embodiments may provide the sliding step assembly in a railvehicle. This is to be understood to mean a track-bound vehicle, such asa locomotive, a rail motor set, a rail motor coach, a tram, a subwayvehicle, a carriage such as a passenger train and/or goods car, inparticular a high-speed rail vehicle. Alternatively, the sliding stepassembly may be used for any other type of vehicle which is provided inparticular for transporting persons, for example also for buses, patienttransport vehicles, vehicles for transporting disabled persons etc.

Disclosed embodiments may include a drive that comprises at least onecontactlessly operating electric linear motor, the drive force of whichis transmitted to the step board for example purely magnetically(Lorentz forces or reluctance forces) and without a mechanicalconnection, that is to say without the action of mechanical forces. Thedrive force, acting on the step board, of the contactlessly operatingelectric linear motor is in this case to be distinguished from the guideforce which acts between the guide device and the step board and whichmay be realized by way of contact, that is to say by mechanical forces,or else likewise in contactless fashion, for example, by magneticforces.

The contactlessly operating electric linear motor may for examplecomprise multiple permanent magnets lined up with one another in alinear row and multiple exciter coils which contactlessly interact withthe permanent magnets and which are lined up with one another in alinear row and which are electrically energized by a controller, whereinthe magnetic fields generated by the permanent magnets and by theexciter coils overlap and generate magnetic forces which move the stepboard along the movement travel. Here, the drive force is consequentlygenerated by the Lorentz force, as is conventional in the case ofmagnetically excited electric drives.

Alternatively, the contactlessly operating electric linear motor mayalso be formed by a reluctance motor, in the case of which the driveforce is generated (exclusively) by reluctance force and not to a majorextent by the Lorentz force, as is the case in magnetically excitedelectric drives.

The advantage of these measures lies in the fact that, in the case ofsuch a contactlessly operating electric linear motor, larger geometricaltolerances are generally admissible, which make the linear motor inparticular less sensitive to distortion and dirt in the region of thesliding step assembly. The sliding step assembly is then more reliablein terms of its function, and also requires less maintenance.

As already mentioned above, the contactlessly operating electric linearmotor comprises multiple permanent magnets lined up with one another ina linear row and multiple exciter coils which contactlessly interactwith the permanent magnets and which are lined up with one another in alinear row and which are electrically energized by a controller, whereinthe magnetic fields generated by the permanent magnets and by theexciter coils overlap and generate magnetic forces which can move thestep board in both directions along the movement travel. Here, theexciter coils are electrically energized by the electronic controller soas to generate resultant magnetic forces which move the step board inthe respectively desired direction and with the respectively desiredspeed and acceleration.

Here, provision may be made in particular whereby:

a) the multiple permanent magnets which are lined up with one another ina linear row (armature) are arranged on the step board and the multipleexciter coils which are lined up with one another in a linear row(stator) are arranged on a static support region, or whereby

b) the multiple permanent magnets which are lined up with one another ina linear row (stator) are arranged on the static support region and themultiple exciter coils which are lined up with one another in a linearrow are arranged on the step board (armature).

The static support region of the sliding step assembly is for exampledirectly or indirectly fastened to a car body of the vehicle or railvehicle, or forms a part thereof. In particular, the multiple permanentmagnets which are lined up with one another in a linear row arearranged, and the controller electrically energizes the multiple excitercoils which are lined up with one another in a linear row, such that thestep board is pulled and/or pushed in the desired direction, or held inthe desired position, by the magnetic forces. The permanent magnetsand/or the exciter coils may be arranged in in each case one plane,wherein the planes are parallel to one another and at least partiallyoverlap. The rows of the permanent magnets and of the exciter coils arein particular parallel.

In one refinement, provision may also be made whereby the multiplepermanent magnets which are lined up with one another in a linear rowand the multiple exciter coils which are lined up with one another in alinear row are arranged, and/or the multiple exciter coils which arelined up with one another in a linear row are electrically energized,such that the magnetic forces are dependent on the position of the stepboard on the movement travel. Therefore, the drive force acting on thestep board is varied in a manner dependent on the position of the stepboard on the movement travel, or the drive force is a function of thepositions of the step board on the movement travel.

For example, it may be required that the drive force for deploying thestep board from the retracted position into the deployed position isgreater in the retracted position than over the rest of the movementtravel, for example in order to overcome high breakaway forces owing toconstraint or icing in the region of the guide device. In general, theat least one contactlessly operating electric linear motor may becontrolled in open-loop or closed-loop fashion by an electronicopen-loop or closed-loop control device with regard to a position to bemoved to, speed to be attained, acceleration to be attained, or driveforce to be attained, by the step board within the movement travel.

It is optionally possible for at least one exciter coil of the multipleexciter coils to be a constituent part of a force sensor which directlyor indirectly measures the load acting on the step board. Then, at leastone of the multiple exciter coils has an advantageous dual function inthat it serves firstly for generating the drive force and secondly as aconstituent part of the force sensor. As a force sensor which comprisesa coil, use may for example be made of a Hall sensor. This appliesequivalently for at least one permanent magnet.

The movement travel of the step board is not restricted to a straightmovement travel. Rather, the step board may also be guided along anentirely or partially curved movement travel by the guide device.

The guide device may be arranged in a sliding step cassette from whichthe step board can be retracted and deployed, wherein the at least onecontactlessly operating electric linear motor is arranged at leastpartially in the sliding step cassette.

The invention also relates to a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle,having at least one sliding step assembly described above.

A disclosed embodiment of a sliding step assembly 1 shown in FIG. 1 toFIG. 3 may be used for example in a rail vehicle for passengerconveyance.

The sliding step assembly 1 comprises for example a sliding stepcassette (not illustrated here) from which a step board 2 can beretracted and deployed along a movement travel, which in this case isfor example straight and linear, by a contactlessly operating electriclinear motor 4. By a guide device 6 which is in this case linear, thestep board 2 is guided linearly with respect to the sliding stepcassette, which is arranged for example at the floor on a car body ofthe rail vehicle.

The sliding step cassette forms a static support region of the slidingstep assembly and is directly or indirectly fastened to, or forms a partof, the car body of the rail vehicle. The step board 2 may be movedalong the movement travel between a retracted position 8, symbolized inFIG. 2 by a dash-dotted line, and a deployed position 10, symbolized inFIG. 2 by a solid line, wherein the retracted position in the travelingstate of the rail vehicle constitutes a holding position and thedeployed position in the event of a stoppage with embarking anddisembarking of persons constitutes a further holding position, that isto say a position in which the step board is at least temporarily held.In this respect, the retracted position 8 and the deployed position 10each constitute extreme positions of the movement travel. In particular,however, intermediate positions between the two extreme positions 8, 10are also possible as holding positions.

Here, the guide device 6 comprises, for example, a pair of guide rails12 which are arranged in the sliding step cassette and in which, inparticular, rollers 14 rotatably mounted laterally on the step board 2can roll. The drive of the step board 2 relative to the sliding stepcassette is realized by the contactlessly operating electric linearmotor 4, wherein the contactlessly operating electric linear motor 4 is,in a manner dependent on the position of the step board, arranged atleast partially in the step board cassette.

The contactlessly operating electric linear motor 4 may in this casecomprise for example multiple permanent magnets 16 lined up with oneanother in a linear row and multiple exciter coils 20 whichcontactlessly interact with the permanent magnets 16 and which are linedup with one another in a linear row and which are electrically energizedby an electronic controller 18.

In the example of FIG. 3, two parallel rows of permanent magnets 16,each with a north and south pole, may be arranged one behind the otherin a plane. In the linear row of the permanent magnets 16, portions ofopposite polarity may be situated opposite one another. In the presentcase, two exciter coils 20 which are likewise lined up one behind theother in a linear row are for example provided, wherein the magneticfields of the permanent magnets 16 and of the exciter coils 20 at leastpartially overlap. The linear rows of the permanent magnets 16 and ofthe exciter coils 20 are in particular parallel. Here, provision is madein particular whereby the permanent magnets (armature) 16 are arrangedon the step board and the exciter coils (stator) 20 are arranged on thesliding step cassette. It would alternatively be possible for thepermanent magnets (stator) 16 to be arranged on the sliding stepcassette and for the exciter coils 20 to be arranged on the step board(armature).

As shown in FIG. 1, the permanent magnets 16 and the exciter coils 20may be arranged in in each case one plane, wherein the planes areparallel to one another and at least partially overlap. The magneticfields generated by the permanent magnets 16 and by the exciter coils 20overlap and generate magnetic forces which move the step board 2 alongthe movement travel. Consequently, here, the drive force is generated bythe Lorentz force, as is common in the case of magnetically excitedelectric drives.

Alternatively, the contactlessly operating electric linear motor 4 mayalso be formed by a reluctance motor, in the case of which the driveforce is generated (exclusively) by reluctance force and not to a majorextent by the Lorentz force, as is the case in magnetically excitedelectric drives.

The exciter coils 20 are electrically energized by an electroniccontroller 18 so as to generate resultant magnetic forces which move thestep board 2 in the respectively desired direction and with therespectively desired speed and acceleration along the movement travel.In particular, the permanent magnets 16 are arranged, and the excitercoils 20 are electrically energized by the electronic controller 18, insuch a way that the step board 2 is pulled and/or pushed in the desireddirection by the resultant magnetic forces.

Here, provision may also be made whereby the permanent magnets 16 andthe exciter coils 20 are arranged, and/or the exciter coils 20 areelectrically energized, such that the magnetic forces are dependent onthe position of the step board 2 on the movement travel. Then, the driveforce acting on the step board 2 is varied in a manner dependent on theposition of the step board 2 on the movement travel, or the drive forcefor the step board 2 is a function of the position of the step board 2on the movement travel.

For example, it may be required that the drive force for deploying thestep board 2 from the retracted position 8 into the deployed position 10is greater in the retracted position 8 than over the rest of themovement travel, for example in order to overcome high breakaway forcesowing to constraint or icing in the region of the guide device 6.

In general, the at least one contactlessly operating electric linearmotor 4 may be controlled in open-loop or closed-loop fashion by anelectronic open-loop or closed-loop control device with regard to aposition to be moved to, speed to be attained, acceleration to beattained, or drive force to be attained, by the step board 2 within themovement travel. In particular, in the context of closed-loop control,sensors which generate feedback signals of actual values, such astravel, speed, acceleration or force sensors, may be provided.

In at least one embodiment, at least one exciter coil of the excitercoils 20 may be a constituent part of a force sensor which directly orindirectly measures the load acting on the step board 2. As a forcesensor, which may comprise a coil, the disclosed embodiments may be madeof a Hall sensor.

The movement travel of the step board 2 is not restricted to a straightmovement travel. Rather, the step board 2 may also be guided along anentirely or partially curved movement travel by the guide device 6.

The scope of the invention also encompasses embodiments which compriseany desired combination of features of the embodiments described herein.

LIST OF REFERENCE DESIGNATIONS

-   1 Sliding step assembly-   2 Step board-   4 Linear motor-   6 Guide device-   8 Retracted position-   10 Deployed position-   12 Guide rails-   14 Rollers-   16 Permanent magnets-   18 Controller-   20 Exciter coils

1. A sliding step assembly for a vehicle or a rail vehicle, the slidingstep assembly comprising: at least one step board; a drive; and a guidedevice, wherein the at least one step board is driven by the drive, isguided on the guide device so as to be movable along a movement travelbetween a retracted position and a deployed position, wherein the drivecomprises at least one contactlessly operating electric linear motor,and wherein the drive force thereof is transmitted to the step boardwithout a mechanical connection.
 2. The sliding step assembly of claim1, wherein the contactlessly operating electric linear motor comprisesmultiple permanent magnets lined up with one another in a linear row andmultiple exciter coils which contactlessly interact with the permanentmagnets and which are lined up with one another in a linear row andwhich are electrically energized by a controller, wherein the magneticfields generated by the permanent magnets and by the exciter coilsoverlap and generate magnetic forces which move the step board along themovement travel.
 3. The sliding step assembly of claim 2, wherein: themultiple permanent magnets which are lined up with one another in alinear row are arranged on the step board and the multiple exciter coilswhich are lined up with one another in a linear row are arranged on astatic support region, or in the multiple permanent magnets which arelined up with one another in a linear row are arranged on the staticsupport region and the multiple exciter coils which are lined up withone another in a linear row are arranged on the step board.
 4. Thesliding step assembly of claim 2, wherein the multiple permanent magnetswhich are lined up with one another in a linear row are arranged, andthe controller electrically energizes the multiple exciter coils whichare lined up with one another in a linear row, such that the step boardis pulled and/or pushed in the desired direction by the magnetic forces.5. The sliding step assembly of claim 4, wherein: the multiple permanentmagnets lined up with one another in a linear row; and the multipleexciter coils lined up with one another in a linear row; and/or themultiple exciter coils lined up with one another in a linear row areelectrically energized by the controller 4 such that the magnetic ordrive forces are dependent on the position of the step board on themovement travel.
 6. The sliding step assembly of claim 4, wherein atleast one exciter coil of the multiple exciter coils is a constituentpart of a force sensor which directly or indirectly measures the loadacting on the step board.
 7. The sliding step assembly of claim 1,wherein the contactlessly operating electric linear motor is areluctance motor.
 8. The sliding step assembly of claim 1, wherein thestep board is guided along a straight and/or curved movement travel bythe guide device.
 9. The sliding step assembly of claim 1, wherein theguide device is arranged in a sliding step cassette from which the stepboard is retracted or deployed, wherein the at least one contactlesslyoperating electric linear motor is arranged at least partially in thesliding step cassette.
 10. The sliding step assembly of claim 1, whereinthe at least one contactlessly operating electric linear motor iscontrolled in open-loop or closed-loop fashion by an electronicopen-loop or closed-loop control device with regard to a position to bemoved to, speed to be attained, acceleration to be attained, or driveforce to be attained, by the step board within the movement travel. 11.A rail vehicle having at least one sliding step assembly as claimed inclaim 1.